Just as Shi Hu was about to join the charge along with his men, Scale-tooth grabbed him.

“Wait! Just wait!”

Even though Scale-tooth was big, his raw strength was no match for Shi Hu. He ignored him and marched onwards, although at a slower pace, dragging Scale-tooth along.

“I said STOP!” Scale-tooth wrapped his powerful armoured tail around one of Shi Hu’s legs and pulled with everything he had, causing Shi Hu to trip and fall.

By then, the charging demons were only several spear-lengths away from Trip and Wukong. Trip was still in the middle of the corridor, between the wooden barricades. She knelt on one knee, hands at her sides. Wukong stood beside her, quarterstaff at the ready, eagerly anticipating his entertainment for the day.

Trip turned her head and yelled “Bajie! NOW!”

Bajie had been facing the village gates, determinedly not looking at the charging demons. To make sure he didn’t catch even a glimpse of the scary demons, he had his eyes squeezed shut. At Trip’s command, he pulled up a thick rope that had been concealed beneath a layer of dirt on the ground. Taking a firm grip, he heaved it onto his shoulder and ran as fast as he could towards the village gates. It only took a few steps before the rope went taut.

As the rope shot out of the ground, it pulled on rows of concealed bamboo stakes all along the corridor the demons were charging down. Some stakes were like short spears, while some were only as long as a dagger, but they all managed to impale or trip a charging demon.

Now, it was the charging demons’ turn to scream. Most of the demons who first encountered the fire-hardened stakes were not badly wounded. The stakes either broke upon impact with their armoured boots, or scraped past their boots to impale their upper calves or lower thighs. Almost all were non-fatal injuries, but it did cause the injured demons to halt their charge, causing the demons behind to knock into the demons in front, who fell forward onto another row of stakes.

That’s when the real damage was done. Those who were either unlucky or slow to react were impaled through the unarmoured parts of their body. Knees, hips, shoulders, neck and face. Here and there, demons with wounds at those parts could be seen. There were even a few demons who were no longer moving.

By then, the human defenders had long since stopped their fake screaming and pretend panic at the village gates. Moving as one, they returned to their positions behind the wooden barricades, readying their weapons.

“Elder Jing, you owe me two bags of corn!” said Gao Cai with great satisfaction.

“Haih, Elder Mu, I wanted to support you, but…” Elder Jing sighed with a mixture of disappointment and amusement.

“What’s this about?” Elder Mu crossed his arms.

“Oh… nothing much.” said Gao Cai, trying to look as innocent as possible. “We were just betting on how well you’d be able to act scared enough to convince the demons. Elder Jing said he had no doubt you would be able to scream and tremble like the rest of us. I said the best you’d be able to manage would be to look like you’d seen a rabid dog and was preparing to take it down.”

At that, Gao Shu and Gao Luan burst into laughter, completely shattering the illusion of them being anything remotely resembling scared rabbits.

Shi Hu growled through gritted teeth, his eyes bulging, his fists clenched tight. His entire body was vibrating with sheer rage. How dare these rabbits use sneaky tricks with bits of wood on him and his men, and then LAUGH at them! Fortunately, his men were tough. Pushing Scale-tooth aside, he clambered back to his feet to get a better view. Nodding in satisfaction, he saw that for the most part, his men were still very much alive. Wounded they might be, but definitely still alive, and ANGRY!

“Onwards!” roared Shi Hu. “Don’t give them any chances! Break the stakes and KILL!”

“KIIIIIILLLLLL!” roared the demons, entering into a blood frenzy.

“Ohhhh, only NOW do they want to kill us! I guess before this, they wanted to invite us for some tea and steamed buns!” said Wukong, scratching his behind as he watched the frenzied demons breaking down the offending bamboo stakes with their weapons.

Trip levelled two single-shot pistols at the demons.

-- Chapter 38, End --